Top image: Descent stage of the Mars Science Laboratory vehicle, lowering the folded Curiosity rover in the sky crane maneuver. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) This post was originally published on ...

At first blush, using a rocket-powered flying crane to lower a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered rover to the surface of Mars seems risky at best. But engineers say it solves a host of daunting challenges.

The Mars Perseverance Rover has made an unexpected discovery, capturing stunning images of the wreckage from its own descent vehicle, the Skycrane. This groundbreaking find unveils a hidden chapter in ...

It later snapped an image of the landing site from above with the rover, parachute, heat shield, and sky-crane impact site plainly visible on the ground. Coincidentally, the MRO arrived at Mars on ...

NASA officials struggled to articulate Tuesday why the sky crane hadn't been integrated into the mission's architecture from the start. "Why, when this was originally being designed, was it being ...

A Bay Area researcher who headed the team that landed the Curiosity Rover on Mars two years ago is moving ahead with another project for the Red Planet. ABC7 Bay Area 24/7 live stream.

To illustrate the point, Steltzner discussed the two chief alternatives to the sky crane Mars landing system.The first of these, he said, was putting Curiosity down on legs, as NASA did on Mars ...

Finally, the $2.5 billion rover will be lowered to the surface on cables. When Curiosity's six wheels hit the red dirt inside Mars' huge Gale Crater, its "sky crane " descent stage will fly off ...

Scientists are jittery but thrilled about the upcoming launch of NASA's Curiosity rover, the largest Mars rover yet. The $2.5 billion Curiosity, also known as NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, is ...

NASA’s Perseverance rover filmed its own landing on Mars. Here’s that video. ... Finally, the sky crane disconnected the cables and flew away, leaving Perseverance to begin its mission.

There's a rocket-powered sky crane involved. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. NASA's Perseverance rover is only a few days ...

The stunningly intricate series of maneuvers that will drop NASA's Curiosity rover onto the Martian surface Sunday looks pretty reasonable when you consider the alternatives, experts say.